No Mercy (2005)

No Mercy (2005)

Promotional poster featuring Eddie Guerrero
Theme
song(s)		 "Save Me" by Shinedown[1]
Information
Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s) SmackDown!
Sponsor(s) PlayStation 2
Date October 9, 2005
Attendance 7,000[2]
Venue Toyota Center
City Houston, Texas
Pay-per-view chronology

Unforgiven (2005) No Mercy (2005) Taboo Tuesday (2005)
No Mercy chronology

No Mercy (2004) No Mercy (2005) No Mercy (2006)

No Mercy (2005) was the eighth annual No Mercy professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event, presented by Sony's PlayStation 2, took place on October 9, 2005, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE's SmackDown! brand. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The event is memorable for being Eddie Guerrero's final pay-per-view appearance before his death on November 13.

Three of the four championships exclusive to the SmackDown! brand were contested for; one was lost while the other two were retained. The main event was a standard wrestling match, in which World Heavyweight Champion Batista defeated challenger Eddie Guerrero to retain his title. One of the featured preliminary matches was a Casket match between The Ortons (Randy and "Cowboy" Bob) and The Undertaker. The Ortons won the match after placing Undertaker inside the casket and closing it. Another primary preliminary match was a standard match between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and Rey Mysterio, which JBL won.

The event received 219,000 pay-per-view buys, which was greater than the 193,000 buys the previous year's event received. The event was claimed to be "unmerciful" by Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section, as they rated none of the matches higher than a five out of ten.[3] When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of fourth on Billboard's DVD sales chart for recreational sports. It remained on the chart for four consecutive weeks.

Background

Nine professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, which were planned with predetermined outcomes by WWE's script writers. The buildup to these matches and scenarios that took place before, during and after the event were also planned by the script writers. The event featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE's SmackDown! brand, a storyline expansion in which WWE assigned its employees.[3] Wrestlers portrayed either a villainous or fan favorite gimmick, an on-screen character, for the entertainment of the audience.

Batista, who defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Eddie Guerrero

The main rivalry heading into No Mercy was between Batista and Eddie Guerrero over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 16 episode of SmackDown!, Palmer Cannon, a miscellaneous on-screen authority figure of SmackDown!, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced that Guerrero was the next challenger to Batista's World Heavyweight Championship.[4] Guerrero, who had recently portrayed a manipulative character, came out and claimed he was now more about compassion than manipulation.[4] Two weeks later, on the September 30 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero, as part of the scripted events, accidentally hit Batista with a folding chair while attempting to hit MNM tag team member Joey Mercury.[5] The following week, Batista showed Guerrero the footage of him hitting Batista last week. Batista, as part of their storyline, then proclaimed that he would hurt Guerrero if he were to revert to his villainous character.[6]

The feud between The Undertaker and Randy Orton and "Cowboy" Bob Orton began at SummerSlam. At the event, Randy faced off against Undertaker. During the match, "Cowboy" Bob (disguised as a fan) came into the ring and interrupted the match. Following this, Randy pinned Undertaker after he jumped and pulled Undertaker's head down over his shoulders, a move dubbed the RKO, to win.[7] After the match, Randy peeled off the latex mask of the fan and revealed him to be his father, "Cowboy" Bob.[7] On the September 16 episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker defeated Randy. During the match, "Cowboy" Bob drove a U-Haul truck down to the ring and unloaded a casket. As Undertaker went to put Randy inside the casket, he opened it and found a mannequin of himself inside.[4] Despite this distraction, Undertaker pinned Randy after he drove Randy's head into the mat in an upside down position, a move called the Tombstone Piledriver.[4] The following week, druids wheeled out a casket. Undertaker appeared on the TitonTron and urged The Ortons to look inside. The Ortons opened the casket and found mannequins of themselves inside. Undertaker then proclaimed that this would be their fate at No Mercy.[8]

At the previous SmackDown! brand pay-per-view event, The Great American Bash, The Legion of Doom (Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.[9] After both teams got involved in a storyline between Melina (Melina Perez), who was also a member of MNM, and Christy Hemme, The Legion of Doom and Hemme versus MNM was announced for No Mercy.[5]

The storyline over the WWE United States Championship began when Booker T, Orlando Jordan, and Christian each explained why they thought they deserved a title match against the champion, Chris Benoit.[5] Theodore Long, SmackDown!'s on-screen general manager/authority figure, then announced that Benoit could choose who he wanted to face for the title. After Jordan won a standard wrestling match between three wrestlers, also involving Booker and Christian, Benoit decided that he would face all three men in a match between the four at No Mercy.[5]

Event

Before the live broadcast of the event began, William Regal and Paul Burchill defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a tag team match that aired on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.[10]

Preliminary matches

Other on-screen talent[11]
Role: Name:
Commentator Tazz
Michael Cole
Carlos Cabrera (Spanish)
Hugo Savinovich (Spanish)
Interviewer Steve Romero
Ring announcer Tony Chimel
Referee Brian Hebner
Jim Korderas
Nick Patrick
Charles Robinson

The first match of the event was WWE Tag Team Champions The Legion of Doom (Animal and Heidenreich) and Christy Hemme and MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, and Melina) in a six-person tag team match. After a match predominately controlled by MNM, Hemme pinned Melina after executing a Doomsday Device to win the match for her team.[3][11] The next match was Bobby Lashley, who was making his WWE pay-per-view debut, against Simon Dean. Lashley won the match in under two minutes after pinning Dean following a Dominator..[3][11]

The third contest was a fatal 4-way in which Chris Benoit defended the United States Championship against Booker T, Christian, and Orlando Jordan. After a match evenly controlled by all four men, Benoit forced Christian to submit with the sharpshooter submission hold to win the match and retain the title.[3][11]

The match that followed saw Mr. Kennedy face off against Hardcore Holly. Kennedy controlled most of the match, as he attacked and applied various submission holds on Holly's arm. Kennedy pinned Holly after he performed a Green Bay Plunge off the top rope.[3][11]

The following match was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and Rey Mysterio. The match went back and forth, as each man was able to gain the advantage numerous times. JBL pinned Mysterio following a Clothesline from Hell to win.[3][11]

Main event matches

The sixth bout on the card was a Casket match between The Ortons (Randy and "Cowboy" Bob) and The Undertaker. In order for The Undertaker to win the match, he had to put both Randy and "Cowboy" Bob in the casket, which was at ringside, and close it; for The Ortons, they had to place Undertaker in the casket and close it. Near the end of the match, Undertaker had placed "Cowboy" Bob in the casket and was attempting to place Randy in it as well. After performing a Last Ride on Randy, Undertaker went to open the casket. As he did, however, "Cowboy" Bob sprayed a fire extinguisher in his eyes. Randy then hit Undertaker with a folding chair and placed him in the casket. The Ortons closed the casket to win the bout.[3][11] After the match, The Ortons, as part of the scripted events, locked Undertaker in the casket and hit it numerous times with an axe. They then poured gasoline on the casket and lit it on fire.[3][11]

The next match saw WWE Cruiserweight Champion Nunzio defend his title against Juventud. After a back and forth match between the two, Juventud pinned Nunzio after a sit-out scoop slam piledriver to win the match and the Cruiserweight Championship.[3][11]

Next was the main event, which saw Batista defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Eddie Guerrero. Towards the end of the match, Guerrero executed three vertical suplexes, and attempted to perform a Frog Splash. Batista, however, rolled out of the way and performed a Spinebuster. Batista pinned Guerrero afterwards to win the match and retain the World Heavyweight Championship.[3][11] After the match, Batista and the crowd at the arena sang "Happy Birthday" to Guerrero.[12]

Aftermath

The rivalry between Batista and Eddie Guerrero ended after Guerrero unexpectedly died due to heart failure on November 13, 2005.[13] Their feud was planned to continue, as Guerrero would have gone back to his villainous character.[14]

The Undertaker would not be seen on-screen until Survivor Series after being burned inside a casket at the event.[15] After being the sole survivor in his elimination match, Randy Orton celebrated his victory with his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand. During the celebration, druids brought out a casket and set it up in an upright position.[15] Lightning then struck the casket and set it on fire. Undertaker emerged from the flaming casket and attacked the SmackDown wrestlers.[15] The Ortons, however, escaped the attack. This set up a Hell in a Cell match, a match that is contested in a roofed cage inside the ring, between Randy and Undertaker at Armageddon. Undertaker defeated Randy and ended their storyline that had lasted nearly one year.[16]

After successfully retaining the WWE United States Championship at the event, Chris Benoit started a rivalry with Booker T. Booker defeated Benoit for the title on the edition of October 21 of SmackDown! to begin their feud.[17] The following month, on the edition of November 24 of SmackDown!, a match between Benoit and Booker for the title ended in a no-contest after both men's shoulders were on the mat while pinning one another.[18] Theodore Long then vacated the title and announced that the two would face off against one another in a "Best of Seven series" for the title, in which the winner would be the man who won four matches over the other first.[18] Booker defeated Benoit in the first match at Survivor Series,[15] and eventually won the vacant title after Randy Orton, Booker's replacement due to a legitimate injury to his ankle at a house show,[19] defeated Benoit in the seventh and final match in January.[20] Booker began his fourth reign as United States Champion.[20]

Reception

The event received 219,000 pay-per-view buys, which was greater than the 193,000 buys the previous year's event received.[21] The promotion's revenue was $18.8 million, which was greater than the previous year's revenue of $18.5 million.[21] Despite the general positive fan reception of the show, Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section claimed the event was "unmerciful" and that it left fans "begging for mercy".[3] They rated the overall event, as well as the main event, a five out of ten.[3] None of the matches received a rating higher than a five out of 10. The match between Bobby Lashley and Simon Dean was rated a three out of 10, the lowest overall.[3]

The event was released on DVD on November 8, 2005.[22][23] The DVD reached a peak position of fourth on Billboard's DVD sales chart for recreational sports on December 3, 2005.[24] It remained on the chart for four consecutive weeks, until December 24, when it ranked ninth.[25]

Results

No. Results[3][11][26] Stipulations Times[11]
1H William Regal and Paul Burchill defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick[10] Tag team match Unknown
2 The Legion of Doom (Animal and Heidenreich) and Christy Hemme defeated MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, and Melina) Intergender tag team match 06:28
3 Bobby Lashley defeated Simon Dean Singles match 01:55
4 Chris Benoit (c) defeated Booker T (with Sharmell), Christian, and Orlando Jordan by submission Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE United States Championship 10:22
5 Mr. Kennedy defeated Hardcore Holly Singles match 08:49
6 John "Bradshaw" Layfield (with Jillian Hall) defeated Rey Mysterio Singles match 13:24
7 Randy Orton and Bob Orton defeated The Undertaker Casket match 19:16
8 Juventud (with Psicosis and Super Crazy) defeated Nunzio (c) (with Vito) Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship 06:38
9 Batista (c) defeated Eddie Guerrero Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 18:40
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • H – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Sunday Night Heat

References

  1. ↑ "Official No Mercy 2005 website". World Wrestling Entertainment. October 9, 2005. Archived from the original on October 13, 2005. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ "No Mercy 2005". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sokol, Chris (October 9, 2005). "Latest WWE PPV unmerciful". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Giebink, Dusty (September 16, 2005). "9/16 WWE SmackDown review". PW Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Amigos...Partners...Champions?". World Wrestling Entertainment. September 30, 2005. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  6. ↑ McNamara, Andy (October 7, 2005). "SmackDown: Amigos battle". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  7. 1 2 SummerSlam 2005 (DVD). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2005. WWE56085.
  8. ↑ Keller, Wade (September 23, 2005). "Keller's SmackDown! Report 9/23". PW Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  9. ↑ The Great American Bash 2005 (DVD). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2005. WWE56079.
  10. 1 2 Martin, Adam (October 9, 2005). "No Mercy PPV Results – 10/9/05 – Houston, TX (Batista vs. Guerrero)". WrestleView. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 No Mercy 2005 (DVD). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2005. WWE56087.
  12. ↑ Batista, Dave; Roberts, Jeremy (2007). Batista Unleashed. Simon & Schuster. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4165-4410-4.
  13. ↑ Martin, Adam (November 13, 2005). "Another update on the passing of Eddie Guerrero; heart failure possible". WrestleView. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
  14. ↑ Batista, Dave; Roberts, Jeremy (2007). Batista Unleashed. Simon & Schuster. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-1-4165-4410-4.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Survivor Series 2005 (DVD). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2005. WWE56088.
  16. ↑ Armageddon 2005 (DVD). Stamford, Connecticut: WWE Home Video. 2006. WWE94518.
  17. ↑ McNamara, Andy (October 21, 2005). "SmackDown: Booking a US title change". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  18. 1 2 Roe, Mike (November 27, 2005). "11/25 WWE Friday Night Smackdown review: Smackdown Express". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  19. ↑ "SLAM! Sports – Wrestling – Booker T". Slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Booker's fourth reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Internet Archive. Archived from the original on May 19, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  21. 1 2 "WWE Reports Second Quarter Results" (PDF) (Press release). World Wrestling Entertainment. November 1, 2007. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  22. ↑ "WWE: No Mercy 2005". For Your Entertainment. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  23. ↑ "WWE – No Mercy 2005 DVD". CD Universe. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  24. ↑ "WWE No Mercy 2005 DVD sales". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  25. ↑ "WWE No Mercy 2005 DVD sales". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 6, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2007.
  26. ↑ "No Mercy 2005 results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved July 24, 2008.

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